Following Rajah Caruth’s stellar win at Las Vegas, winning the Truck Series race, Spire Motorsport‘s Cup Series performance pushed the envelope. While Caruth was on top of his game, snagging his first-ever NASCAR win, trouncing over the seasoned competition at the mile-and-a-half track, the Chevy camp’s Sunday venture in the 267 lapper added the finishing touch of Spire’s resurgence.

Corey LaJoie, a seasoned driver in NASCAR’s elite faction along with his young teammate, Carson Hocevar, took it to the race leaders. Both LaJoie and Hocevar ran in the top 15 for much of the afternoon and LaJoie passed cars inside the top five during the first stage. However, despite the massive advancement, not everyone is convinced of the team’s potential.

Speaking on the DBC podcast, 23XI Racing spotter, Freddie Kraft, shared his take after TJ Majors broke the news, saying, “I’m spot off on it still.” 

Freddie Kraft gives the harsh reality behind Spire Motorsports and LaJoie’s resurgence

Much before the season commenced, Spire Motorsports made the headlines courtesy of its shopping spree, buying in charters and taking over Rowdy’s Kyle Busch Motorsports, and expanding its operations. Well, as we get past Las Vegas, we get to see that the off-season grind is paying its dividends. Rajah Caruth shattered the expectations when he came third in the Truck Series season-opener at Daytona.

Then he followed that performance with a spectacular win at Las Vegas, bringing the momentum back to the Chevy camp. The Cup Series race on Sunday looked like it was following a similar script when LaJoie and Hocevar were running with the best showing speed and pace. But, not everyone in the community is sold about Spire’s potential to win in the top series.

TJ Majors said, “I’m spot off on it still. Unless there’s a, you know, obviously plate races. A plate race could happen, but I don’t think they’re there yet.” His co-host and Bubba Wallace’s spotter Freddie Kraft then laid it out bluntly, saying, “Running fifth is one thing, winning. I mean, we talked about how much it is to go from 15th to 12th, going from fifth to third is like a monumental step.” 

“It takes a lot. It’s good to have speed, but you’re gonna have to step it up a lot to, you know, to win a race, and I don’t think they’re there yet. They’re definitely taking steps in the right direction. The #77 car is much more competitive than it was in the past. Obviously, they put a lot of time, they put a lot of money, they put a lot of resources into making their entire program better,” said the podcaster calling a spade a spade.

Even while revealing his thoughts, Kraft touches upon the #7’s performance, being blown away by LaJoie’s pace on Sunday.

Freddie Kraft praises Corey LaJoie for his Vegas performance

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Spire’s Las Vegas performance was its best yet but it still didn’t get them the desired result. While the #7 was hanging in there with the best in the top 5, running in with the race leaders, he couldn’t keep that for long. Nonetheless, Sunday’s performance from the Chevy camp earned them a lot of respect and was a key indicator that the team is headed in the right direction.

Even though Kraft said that it’ll take more effort to win a race, he couldn’t keep himself from lauding the team and its veteran driver, LaJoie. He said, “Corey used a good pit strategy, you had Corey in track position. And Corey maintained, Corey was in the top five.”

Praising the driver and his teammate, Hocevar, he added, “I don’t even know where we were, mid-pack. And I looked up and Corey was in the top five, or top seven like he had speed, I saw him get up there, and I’m like, ‘Oh, this might be tough to maintain.’ And like a lot of the guys that took to that run fell off, and he didn’t. He maintained it. And then, you know, Hocevar was pretty good.”

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However, in the end, only Hocevar managed to finish inside the top 15 as a late wreck took the steam off of the #7 Chevy piloted by LaJoie, forcing him to finish at the rear in the 32nd spot.